Pages

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Read My Lips: TheBalm Lipstick Swatches

Hey you!

Don't you hate it when you want to write a post, but your mind draws a blank and you don't know how to start it?? Well, I guess we can consider the previous sentence as the intro, and just move on, since this post won't be favorable to the product.

Now, first let me say that I really adore TheBalm cosmetics, but there lipsticks leave much to be desired!

TheBalm's Read My Lips Retail for $17.00 (4g/.14 oz).

Letter to the editor, Wanted, Smut, Scoop, Gossip, Classified.

I love the paper packaging of these lipsticks. The paper (eco-friendly :D) is made to look like vintage newspaper prints, very eye catching and appealing. Reminds me of the newspaper wall at Subway (the restaurant).

from left to right: Classified, Gossip, Scoop (shot indoors on an overcast day).

from left to right: Classified, Gossip, Scoop (with flash).

Classified: A pinky beige nude.

Gossip: A bubble gum pink with silver shimmer.

Scoop: A coral pink.

From left to right: Wanted, Letter to the editor, Smut (shot indoors on an overcast day).

From left to right: Wanted, Letter to the editor, Smut (with flash).

Wanted: A strawberry pink red.

Letter to editor: A reddened berry with bronze shimmer.

Smut: A plum berry with silver shimmer.

The texture of these lipsticks feels more like a waxy lip balm than a lipstick. The pigmentation goes on sheer yet shiny. Now the smell...they have this chemically vanilla mint scent. Basically they smell just like a dentist's office...no, I'm serious, they do!! Not a scent I want to have on my lips! Mint is an ingredient in these lipsticks, so during application there is a slight tingle on the lips. Not a lip plumper "I'm in pain tingle" but a cool minty tingle, but this sensation is temporary. After an hour and a half of wear, the only trace of these lipsticks was left in my lip lines, not an attractive look.

When I bought these lipsticks, I really wanted to love them, but I have to say that they're a big FAIL! Read My Lips lipsticks are nowhere near as superb in quality, texture and performance as other products from TheBalm. I guess Read My Lips is TheBalms one hiccup product and for $17.00, I'm going to need a tall glass of water!

I have to say I absolutely LOVE the Read My Lips line. I actually found this blog by searching the net for the best price to buy more. "Letter to the Editor" is a wonderful neutral shade that goes absolutely perfectly with anything I wear. The scent did not remind me at all of a dentists office and I felt the lipstick did a great job of actually moisturizing my lips. One of the things I loved about it was that it did NOT wind up in the creases. Maybe you got a bad batch? (Or maybe I got a really good one?) I've only used one tube but it's the first lipstick I've owned that I actually used to the very bottom. I hope my first tube wasn't a fluke. :)